bit of a nightmare, actually. - PSS Lifetouch Employee Review

Where do I start? --This job was not as advertised. I was told I could make 'up to $40,000' at this position. He was very careful not to lie to me directly, but that's what I was told. I have worked there 8 months and made about 6 grand. --whenever i contacted my boss with a complaint, he gave me a boilerplate 'salesman' answer. I could not get an answer from ANYONE when I asked what the average earnings was for salespeople. I heard a rumor that the average pay for the whole company (ceo and president included) was $18,000. --I'm told that we have to make 'at least' minimum wage, but they pay structure is impossible to understand, and the pay stub with accompanying report is even worse. When I asked people to explain it to me, I was given the runaround. I once worked 7 days, and received a check for 100 dollars. --the job is very physical, and it wears you down. Within a few months, I had symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, and the thumb on my left hand popped out of its socket several times a week. I was too exhausted to do anything else during the day (including look for better employment). I will admit that I have RA and fibro, so this may not be the case with everyone. --the wear on your car is awful. The per mile they pay, while higher than the national average, is barely enough to cover gas and oil changes. --there are no lunch breaks. You can bring something and eat it if there's time, but you never know if there is a place to store/reheat it --they determine if you qualify for health benefits, and if your hours dip below the minimum requirement, they will drop you. I'm told it is much too expensive and inadequate service anyway. --there is no room for advancement. My boss once said 'in a conference call to 'give yourself a raise'. Basically, to sell more, That's not how a raise works. --When you sell more, you get sent to the better accounts. But if you're in a poor area, you can't sell more, so you are sent to more poor areas SO YOU CAN'T SELL MORE. --I have worked in churches where I do not feel safe. I was sent to an area in gary where a woman was attacked and beaten less than a mile away from me. I am very small and could not defend myself if I needed to. I have been in other unsafe conditions as well, exposed to damp, cold environments, uncomfortable chairs (that led to pain and numbness in my body) --Schedule can change drastically without notice. --my church coordinator was terrible. She would do anything to sign on a church, even if there was no money to be made. She would schedule sits before and after our scheduled hours. If there wasn't enough sits to make it worth our effort, she would LIE and say their were enough. She would change the schedules without notice, and then not inform the correct people. --worst of all, I once walked in on our coordinator telling a volunteer "it only costs us 8 cents to make a print, you don't have to buy anything, we're just here to make friends with you". That was the same church in the area where the girl was attacked, and where she lied about the number of sits. --they expect you to go on unemployment during the off time which is January-May, even though they will tell you it's jan-feb and treat it like it's a great perk. Because of the time I signed on, I didn't qualify, so I was left to fend for myself. I will admit that I am the wrong person for this job. I'm a good photographer, but a terrible salesperson. I don't handle the pressure and the constant rejection. But there were things genuinely, seriously wrong with this job.